In existing warehouses or order-picking units, there are a large number of docking stations, (also referred to as factory doors) to which the trucks can be advanced up, by way of their rear side in each case, in order to receive the goods. Such warehouses or order-picking units exist in large numbers and it is often possible for a multiplicity of vehicles to be advanced simultaneously up to the docking stations, which are respectively located one beside the other, in alignment with one another, in a building wall. It is thus possible for as many trucks to dock as there are docking stations, that is to say building-wall openings/factory doors. These docking stations are usually arranged level with the loading areas of the trucks, in order that the warehouse floor and the loading area of the truck form a single plane and the truck can be loaded and unloaded, for example, by fork stackers moving thereon. Since it is the case, with this kind of loading and unloading, that each fork stacker or other kind of transporting apparatus can transport only one goods pallet, or a small number of goods pallets, this kind of loading and unloading is very time-intensive. It is also the case that the truck which is to be loaded and unloaded cannot be moved away from the docking station throughout the duration of the loading and unloading operation.
EP 1 808 387 A2, which should be considered to be the closest prior art, discloses a logistics system in which the freight which is to be loaded and unloaded is stored on a goods platform, also referred to as a platform or load carrier, and the platform as a whole, together with the freight, is taken off the truck, or put onto the truck, in one operation. That is to say the platform as a whole, with the goods, can be transferred to a vehicle in a single step or can be received from a vehicle in a single step.
The invention is based on the object of further improving the platform of the aforementioned logistics system.